The 50 most-followed agencies on Twitter

Twitter has quickly evolved from social media novelty to critical communications channel. But which government organizations are developing the largest followings? Here is the list.

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Twitter has quickly evolved from social media novelty to critical communications channel.  This list shows which federal agencies have built the biggest audiences, and where the growth has been fastest over the past year.

The data below was compiled by OhMyGov, a media and technology firm that specializes in providing advanced media intelligence for government agencies, congressional offices, lobbyists, and businesses working with government.  Please note that for many agencies, follower totals for multiple Twitter accounts were combined to provide a better sense of total reach.  All counts are as of Aug. 31, 2012.

(Also see: The most-mentioned agencies on Twitter.)

Agency # of Twitter followers % Change over last year Accounts
1 The White House 3,470,421 32% @whitehouse, @jesseclee44, @lascasablanca, @macon44, @presssec, @WHLive
2 NASA 2,836,812 110% @NASA
3 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2,015,693 18% @CDCActEarly, @CDC_BioSense, @CDC_Cancer, @cdc_ehealth, @CDCEMERGENCY, @CDCflu, @CDCgov, @CDCGreenHealthy, @cdchep, @CDCMMWR, @CDCSTD, @CDCTobaccofree
4 Health and Human Services Department 1,465,949 59% @healthcaregov, @phegov, @AIDSgov, @flugov, @foodsafetyesp, @foodsafetygov, @girlshealth, @healthfinder, @hhsgov, @ikngov, @ONC_HealthIT, @opa1, @womenshealth
5 Smithsonian Institution 732,838 48% @smithsonian, @SmithsonianJobs
6 State Department 595,692 91% @ConnectStateGov, @dipnote, @StateDept, @travelgov, @USEmbassyBern, @USEmbassyCyprus, @usembassy_nz, @vsfsAtState
7 Agriculture Department 847,574 633% @MyPlate, @peoplesgarden, @RuralTour, @ScienceAtUSDA, @USDA, @USDAFoodSafe_es, @USDAFoodSafety, @USDAForeignAg, @usdafsa, @USDAnutrition, @biopreferred, @USDA_APHIS, @USDA_ERS, @usdagov, , @USDAFoodSafe_es, @USDAFoodSafet
8 Federal Communications Commission 500,873 15% @FCC
9 Justice Department 489,779 19% @TheJusticeDept
10 Peace Corps 477,685 19% @PeaceCorps
11 Food and Drug Administration 464,488 71% @FDAanimalhealth, @fdacber, @FDAcdrhIndustry, @FDADeviceInfo, @fda_drug_info, @FDAMedWatch, @FDArecalls, @FDATobacco, @FDAWomen, @US_FDA
12 FBI 412,842 82% @FBIPressOffice, @NewYorkFBI
13 National Institutes of Health 384,107 68% @NCIExhibits, @NIEHS, @NIHClinicalCntr, @NIHconsensus, @NIHforFunding, @NIHforHealth, @NIHforJobs, @nihlib, @NIH_LRP, @nih_nhlbi, @NIH_ODS, @NIHPtRecruit, @NIHSciEd, @NIHWALS, @ORDR, @WomensHealthNIH
14 Environmental Protection Agency 306,311 78% @AIRNow, @energystarbldgs, @energystarhomes, @epaairmarkets, @EPAburnwise, @EPAcleanuptech, @epacolumbia, @epaespanol, @epagov, @EPAgreenbldg, @epaiaplus, @EPAjobs, @epalive, @epanewengland, @epanews, @eparesearch, @EPAsmartgrowth, @epawater, @EPAwatersen
15 Office of Science and Technology Policy 299,938 28% @whitehouseostp
16 Geological Survey 297,602 69% @nationalatlas, @USGS, @USGSAquaticLife, @usgs_click, @usgs_co, @USGSenergy, @USGS_Ethics, @USGS_Idaho, @usgs_kentucky, @usgs_lcat, @USGSLive, @USGSNeb, @usgsnhd, @_usgsnsmp, @USGS_OR, @USGSPodcasts, @USGS_SpecEider, @usgsstore, @USGSted, @USGSTNMRes
17 National Science Foundation 280,540 70% @NSF
18 Education Department 266,811 110% @arneduncan, @ED_Outreach, @edpartners, @EDPressSec, @FreeResources, @OfficeofEdTech, @teachgov, @usedgov
19 National Institute of Mental Health 249,845 100% @NIMHgov
20 USA.gov 235,629 70% @GobiernoUSA, @GoUSAgov, @USAgov
21 Federal Emergency Management Agency 221,545 78% @craigatfema, @fema, @femaregion1, @femaregion10, @femaregion2, @femaregion3 @femaregion4, @femaregion5, @femaregion6, @femaregion7, @femaregion8 , @femaregion9, @usfire
22 Securities and Exchange Commission 212,103 5% @sec_investor_ed, @SEC_Jobs, @SEC_News
23 U.S. Agency for International Development 195,357 65% @usaid, @RajShah
24 U.S. Army 173,345 90% @usarmy
25 Defense Department 218,066 81% @DeptofDefense, @DoDSpokesman, @AFPW_Articles, @ArmedwScience, @DoDLiveMil, @thejointstaff
26 Homeland Security Department 151,948 n/a* @dhsgov, @DHSJournal, @dhsscitech, @NTASAlerts, @ReadydotGov
27 U.S. Marine Corps 133,062 143% @usmc
28 United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 124,178 101% @holocaustmuseum
29 U.S. Navy 118,653 295% @navynews, @usnavy
30 U.S. Air Force 116,324 101% @afpaa, @airforcenews, @usafpressdesk, @usairforce
31 National Cancer Institute 97,479 100% @ncibulletin, @NCIcaBIG, @NCICancerCtrl, @NCIExhibits, @NCIHINTS, @ncimcmedia, @ncimedia @nciprevention, @NCIsbir, @NCISymptomMgmt, @NCITechTransfer, @NCItrialsatNIH, @NCItsm3, @smokefreegov, @smokefreewomen, @thenci
32 National Weather Service 96,965 115% @usnwsgov, @NHC_Atlantic
33 Office of the Vice President 82,700 148% @VP
34 Energy Department 74,611 126% @ENERGY, @solar_decathlon
35 National Library of Medicine 71,728 169% @aidsinfo, @medlineplus4you, @ncbi, @ncbi_pubmed, @NLMGlobalHealth, @nlm_harrypotter @NLM_LHC, @nlm_newsroom, @NLM_SIS, @WomensHealthNIH
36 National Park Service 71,664 83% @GoParks, @NatlParkService, @NPSVIPNetwork
37 Fish and Wildlife Service 65,746 109% @USFWSPacSWest, @usfws_wsfr, @usfwshq, @usfwsinternatl, @usfwsmidwest, @usfwsmtnprairie, @usfwsnortheast, @usfwspacific, @usfwsrefuges, @usfwssoutheast
38 U.S. Coast Guard 59,271 66% @Amver, @BoatingCampaign, @cgchealy, @cges, @Flotilla1105, @Flotilla4, @forcecompao, @GloucesterAUX64, @iCommandantUSCG, @uscgaux, @USCGAUXD8CR, @USCG_AWW, @uscoastguard
39 Voice of America 57,137 171% @voa_news
40 National Ocean Service 51,180 69% @usoceangov
41 Navy Seals 50,749 136% @us_navyseals
42 Veterans Affairs Department 49,545 110% @DeptVetAffairs
43 Labor Department 47,764 93% @usdol
44 U.S. Embassy Bangkok 42,871 39% @USEmbassyBKK
45 National Archives and Records Administration 41,679 143% @archivesnews, @dferriero, @discovercivwar, @DocsTeach, @FedRegister, @NARA_RecMgmt, @TodaysDocument, @usnatarchives
46 Secret Service 40,930 45% @SecretService
47 Transportation Department 38,063 66% @RayLaHood
48 Federal Reserve Bank of New York 34,102 137% @libertystecon, @NYFed_data, @NYFed_news
49 Interior Department 33,345 117% @Interior, @usinteriorjobs
50 Small Business Administration 32,674 139% @sbagov

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